Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered condolences to North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un over devastating floods that caused untold casualties and damaged thousands of homes, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

Eight Russian prisoners were released in the swap, including spies, agents and a convicted assassin.

Gershkovich, an American reporter, had been detained by Russia for 70 weeks

The exchange will reportedly involve Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and US Marine veteran Paul Whelan

Prices have risen by 172% in Russia’s biggest cities over the past three years

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich – the son of Soviet emigrants – was arrested in the Urals region last year

Russia and the West need mutual security guarantees for the crisis to be resolved, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said

The US-led military bloc does not want to become directly involved in the Ukraine conflict, Jens Stoltenberg has claimed

Paris may still have plans to covertly send a contingent to fight for Kiev, a report submitted to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service has warned

Two-month detention order imposed on exiled dissident Yulia Navalnaya for participating in ‘extremist’ group

Russia has been blasted after launching a horrific daytime attack on Ukraine, hitting a children’s hospital and leaving at least 20 people dead.

The Ukrainian military announced on Thursday that its forces had withdrawn from part of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, a day after Russia claimed control over a district of the strategic town. Russian troops have been steadily advancing in the Donetsk region for several weeks.  

Despite decades of Western pressure, Tehran poses a greater threat to U.S. interests thanks to its ties to Russia and China